Two die after walkway collapses at shoe factory in Cambodia

From Greg Pellechi, for CNN

Updated 11:50 AM ET, Thu May 16, 2013

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Collapse at shoe factory in Cambodia – Cambodian soldiers try to move concrete after a walkway collapsed in a shoe factory warehouse in Kampong Speu province, west of Phnom Penh, on Thursday, May 16. Two people died and six were injured after the raised concrete walkway fell.

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Collapse at shoe factory in Cambodia – Cambodian rescue team and soldiers look for workers who may have been trapped by the walkway collapse at the Wing Star Shoe Co. factory on May 16.

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Collapse at shoe factory in Cambodia – Rescuers search for victims. The cause of the collapse is under investigation, a National Police spokesman said.

Collapse at shoe factory in Cambodia – Rim Chreb lights candles on the coffin of her brother Rim Saroeun, who died in the accident.

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Collapse at shoe factory in Cambodia – Kim Leap grieves next to a portrait of her son Rim Saroeun. Saroun, 22, was one of eight family members who worked at the factory, a relative said.

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Story highlights

The accident happened at a factory that makes shoes for a Japanese company

Two people were killed and six injured after a concrete platform fell, police say

The garment industry is in focus after a devastating building collapse in Bangladesh

Two people died after a raised concrete walkway collapsed Thursday at a shoe factory warehouse in Cambodia, police said.

Six other people were injured by the fallen walkway in a warehouse adjoining the factory, which is south of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, said National Police Spokesman Kirt Chantharith.

More people could still be buried in the rubble, he said, but he added that it doesn't appear that dozens of people are trapped. Police are investigating the cause of the collapse.

The deaths at the Cambodian facility come as safety conditions in the garment industry in Asia are under scrutiny following the devastating collapse of a nine-story building housing textile factories in Bangladesh last month. That disaster killed 1,127 people.

At the scene of Thursday's accident at the Wing Star Shoe Co. factory, rescue workers hauled away chunks of concrete from the wreckage.